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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford calls drug video allegations ‘ridiculous’

TORONTO – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, whose tenure has been plagued by controversy and embarrassment, found himself embroiled in a new scandal Friday amid two independent reports he was caught on video appearing to smoke crack cocaine.

Leaving his home and again at city hall, Ford refused to answer any questions, but was quick to dismiss one of the reports as yet another smear job, although neither he nor his lawyer called the video fake.

“These allegations are ridiculous,” Ford said.

“It’s another story with respect to the Toronto Star going after me and that’s all.”

In an online account late Thursday, John Cook of the U.S.-based website Gawker.com said he had seen a cellphone video taken by a drug dealer that purportedly showed Ford smoking crack.

Both Gawker and the Toronto Star offered separate but similar accounts of the dealer shopping the video around for at least $100,000.

Both publications said they had declined to buy it, but both said the dealer — reached through an intermediary — had shown it to them.

In its report, the Star said two of its reporters had watched the video on May 3 that it said showed an intoxicated Ford in a room, sitting in a chair, and lighting and smoking from what appeared to be a glass crack pipe.

The publications reported Ford could be heard making crude remarks about Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and the high school football team he coaches.

The Star said it stood by its story and spokesman Bob Hepburn rejected any suggestions the paper was out to get the mayor.

“We’ve researched it extensively over the last few weeks since we saw the purported video and this is legitimate news coverage,” Hepburn said.

“The mayor has suggested that we’re out to get him over time, but the coverage we have done since he became mayor has been responsible, has been legitimate coverage of him.”

Ford’s lawyer Dennis Morris called the reports “false and defamatory.” But Morris also told the newspaper it was impossible to tell what a person was smoking by watching the video.

Word of the seedy allegations quickly spread through social media, setting off a frenzied debate on Twitter that saw many American pundits compare Ford to Marion Barry, the convicted crack-smoking former mayor of Washington, D.C.

“Unless he was entrapped by the government, it’s not similar,” Barry told the Washington City Paper.

Many commentors seemed amused by the latest scandal to plague the mayor, which came only months after he was accused of being either drunk or high at an official function and groping a female councillor — allegations he vehemently denied.

Others were skeptical, with deputy mayor Doug Holyday saying a “video can be altered” and “drug dealers can’t be trusted.”

Not everyone is likely to share Holyday’s faith in the city’s leader, said Penny Collenette, a law and ethics expert at the University of Ottawa, who noted Ford may face increasing pressure from council and the public to resign.

The mayor is innocent until proven guilty — and as such, can’t be forced to step down, she said, pointing to the cases of London, Ont., Mayor Joe Fontana and former Ottawa mayor Larry O’Brien.

Fontana has refused to give up his seat despite being charged with fraud, while O’Brien continued to work while on trial on influence peddling charges, of which he was eventually cleared.

Ford is not facing any charges, but still, Collenette said, if the cloud of controversy that has dogged him derails proceedings at city hall, that may be enough to warrant his resignation.

“Just how many times can Toronto go through this with this particular mayor?” Collenette said.

“Can the city efficiently run with yet another distraction of this type? And what does this say about the city’s brand?”

Among other problems Ford has faced, earlier this year, he narrowly survived as mayor after a court ruled he should be ousted from office for conflict of interest, a decision overturned on appeal on a technicality.

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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford calls drug video allegations ‘ridiculous’

Mayor Ford, Prime Minister Harper, Senate Duffy; why are the nasty thin thugs in the MSM going after these three fine men. Could it be that their ability to bring not just gravitas but also gravity to any room has evoked that much envy?

Read the articles at The Star and Gawker before dismissing the account. They are descriptive and cautious at the same time. Gawker might jump on something flimsy without total confidence of what their reporter saw, but there’s no way The Star would. Not something this big, that could lead to a massive lawsuit if they are wrong about the content. The Gawker also only published the account after some idiot working for CNN tipped off the mayor’s office about the video’s existence. The Gawker was going to sit on the story until they found a partner with deeper pockets to help them buy the video (which is how CNN found out about it).

The Star was pretty clear. They described the offer, and what they saw. They said there was no way to be sure it was the mayor, or what was in the pipe. They held back and kept investigating for three weeks until someone else broke the story – and then reported only what was offered to them. The Sun story on Jack Layton and his visit to the masseuse was far less neutral.

Looks like they apologized for their error. I’m sure they’ll do the same if this video, independently well-described by three different reporters, turns out to be a fake.

briguyhfx on May 20, 2013 at 11:09 am

Because you are a freak, and you are an asshole.

You’re already moving the goalposts.

You made the asinine assertion that because I did not act like your personal slave and provide you the evidence that is everywhere, that is easy to find, that yes, the Star frequently publishes stories on something flimsy, then you made the asinine accusation that such evidence did not exist. And you are such an arrogant asshole you went out of your way to act the arrogant asshole. So I’ve proven you wrong and here you are pretending your original assertion that “there’s no way the Star would jump on something flimsy”, that I disputed, was something else. Puhleaze. What a pathetic response. I responded to what you said, not whatever crap you’re pretending you said now. Now you’re pretending you made the assertion that this particular story is not flimsy. No, idiot, what you actually said was that the Star would never “jump on something flimsy without total confidence with what the reporter saw”. I’ve provided multiple examples that prove that assertion completely wrong. And you went out of your way to declare such an idiotic assertion completely right. You’re already eating crow, and you should eat sh*t along with it. And now here you are, pretending you’re not an asshole, with your pathetic re-invention of the facts. Go blow yourself.

However, others questioned “is it a story” that Ford was seen at a fast food restaurant, according to J-Source.

Now Toronto summarized reactions to the video as “most commentators…were of the opinion it was a low blow.” Likewise, in an April 18 article, the Toronto Star reported that readers’ response was “emotional” and largely “negative.” The Toronto Sun, for one, called it an “ambush” and a “chicken move” and defended Ford.

And, Toronto Life magazine reported that the newspaper was criticized by “other papers…for bullying.”

Wow, this “news” paper is just so reputable.

You’re welcome, freak!

s_c_f on May 18, 2013 at 5:43 pm

I am prepared to eat crow if they are wrong, asshole.

briguyhfx on May 20, 2013 at 11:09 am

Exactly ! We are trust drug dealers and a paper that takes a personal vendettsa against a public figure to extremes. Get the video, prove it’s authentic, Ford and has not been edited etc. Then we have a case.

“but there’s no way The Star would. Not something this big, that could lead to a massive lawsuit if they are wrong about the content.” All they have to do is say not clear whether true and no lawsuit as they didn’t lie. But this is sort of same level of journalism as National Enquirer… was Forest Gump real? Normally you at least *try* to get experts to test something like this if reputable newspaper.

But I’ve yet to see them denounce the Star for this garbage. How far does the Star have to go before Maclean’s reports on their sad behaviour? That’s the story here. There really is a limit at which point the despicably childish behaviour of the Star should be called out by other news organizations. It’s most likely the Star fed this story to Gawker so that they could claim they were not the first to report it. But will that info ever come to light? Are there any journalists out there with standards? Are there any journalists out there willing to report the real news?

Instead Maclean’s debases itself by republishing this Ford garbage.

I guess Maclean’s wants to compete with the Star for the National Enquirer and TMZ crowd.

Show me the ‘money’, anonymous druggies/dealers, a gossip site and a newspaper on a witch hunt which has been wrong before, are believable. Normally papers don’t pay for sources but in this case, they should. The Star lost credibility before, they should;ve proved this one beyond a shadow of a doubt before smearing Ford with something like this. If it’s true, then Ford is done – but first – show me the verified goods..

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